


Wait 'Til Morning

by martieek



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety Attacks, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-25 21:44:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14387733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/martieek/pseuds/martieek
Summary: [One-shot AU] Shiro has a bad dream, waking up to learn it's just a bad night in total.  Matt doesn't hold it against him.





	Wait 'Til Morning

With the crack of a fist and the whooping of the mob surrounding him, Shiro crashed face-up onto the alley pavement, wind knocked from his chest.

 _“What’s the matter, Shiro?_ ”  The taunt echoed through his ringing skull as he grasped for breath. Shiro couldn’t distinguish the stars in the sky from the stars in his vision as the voice continued, “Can’t fight back without both arms?”

Renewed fury fueled Shiro as he regained his footing, launching himself at his attacker with a roar that sounded to him as if it came from underwater.  Both men toppled to the ground, and the voices of those encircling the tussle all breathed, “ _Shiro!_ ”

 _Not this time_ , Shiro thought, seeing nothing but static and red.  He raised a fist in finality, falling deaf to all sound but a piercing, desperate, “ _Takashi!_ ”

Shiro started, blinking as the sudden quiet darkness proved the alleyway to be gone.  No pavement, no puddles, no jeering crowd, and underneath him was not the dirty face of a lowlife thug, but the familiar pallor of the very person he’d sworn to always keep safe.

“Matt?” Shiro gasped as reality rapidly became more apparent.  He had Matt pinned to the bed, free hand raised threateningly over him as Matt stared back wide-eyed in the night of the bedroom.  Though fearful, Matt firmly held Shiro’s gaze--not afraid  _of_  him, but afraid  _for_  him.

“You were dreaming,” Matt choked out carefully, unsure of how to proceed from here.  But Shiro barely heard him, focused on the blood dribbling from a gash under Matt’s left eye.  

Shiro grew lightheaded, sitting back in a daze as his vision tunneled.   “Oh, God, Matt, is that—Did I—?”

“It was an accident.”  Matt regained enough composure to sit up and speak casually.  “Don’t worry; it’s okay.”

“You’re bleeding…” was all Shiro could say at first; he couldn’t comprehend much more.

Matt wiped at his face with the back of his hand as if unaware of the injury.  “It’s fine.  Hang on, I’ll be right back.  It’s okay.” He scrambled off the bed toward the bathroom, continuing his stream of consolation so Shiro wouldn’t be left alone in silence.

It didn’t matter much.  Shiro moved to the far edge of the bed, hugging himself as the situation started to solidify in his mind.  “ _Oh god oh god oh god oh god…_ ”  Guilt and terror clawed their way up his spine and scrambled his thoughts: terror of himself, terror of what he’d done, terror of what he  _could have_  done.

As if Matt could sense Shiro’s swelling distress, he called from the bathroom, the light from which was casting a sickly glow to the space.  “It’s not even that bad!”  He poked his head out of the doorframe and pointed to his cheek, now dressed with a lightly-stained gauze pad.  “See? All good.”  Shiro made no response, and Matt could see him starting to lose himself: face buried in his hands, pulling at his own hair, noticeably shaking even at some distance.

Shiro tried to contain his sobs, but a ragged breath escaped when he felt Matt’s fingers brush his shoulder. He tried to shield himself with his arms as if to hide somehow, but Matt wouldn’t be so easily deterred.  

Taking gentle hold of Shiro’s hands in his own, Matt knelt down in front of him.  “Hey, look at me, please?”

“Matt, I—I could have—“ Shiro cut himself off, barely able to breathe, knowing any more words would be lost as sobs anyway.

With a tenderness Shiro had never seen from Matt before, he pressed their foreheads together, voice thick with concern and conviction.  “I’m here with you.  We’re  _both_  safe.”  Matt climbed onto the bed to better position himself to wrap his arms tight around Shiro, not really sure of how else to try and help right away.  He’d never seen Shiro this vulnerable before.

Shiro’s guard dropped all at once, and he clutched desperately at Matt, sobbing into his chest.  “It’s gonna be alright, alright?” Matt whispered into Shiro’s hair.  He wasn’t sure if he could even be heard, but he continued in the hopes it would help. “We can get this taken care of, yeah? I know a guy who knows a guy, a good doctor.  They’ll know what to do.  Okay? This isn’t your fault, Shiro.  You know that, right?”  He placed his fingers under Shiro’s chin, lifting his head carefully so their eyes met.  With a sympathetic smile, he thumbed away the freshest tears.  “You’re gonna be okay.”

“What about you?”  Shiro’s gaze drifted to Matt’s bandage, moving a hand as if he were about to touch it, but drew back.

“Oh, this?  Pfft.  Already forgot about it.”

“It could get infected if— What about your glasses?  We’ll have to— I can get y—“

“Hey, I have an idea.”  Matt reached around to grab the tissue box from the nightstand, handing it to Shiro before gathering up the comforter and wrapping it around them.  “Why don’t we get some sleep and take another look at all this in the morning light?”

Fear flashed in Shiro’s eyes at the possibility of having another nightmare as he wiped his face, sobs subsiding. In response, Matt pulled the comforter tighter around them and leaned back, encouraging Shiro to lie back down with him.  “I think it’s my turn to try and protect you,” he teased.

In compliance, or maybe just exhaustion, Shiro nestled back into the pillows, seeming almost small as he tucked his head under Matt’s chin.  He felt embarrassed all of a sudden, but Matt was quick to offer a distraction. Twisting to grab his phone from the nightstand, he pulled up his video library of “Cool Space Shit” and set the playlist to auto without a word, holding the screen so the two of them could see comfortably.  Neither paid much attention, though, the weight of sleep pressing down on them hard and fast.  Matt fought it off for a while, eyes flicking to see if Shiro had fallen asleep first, but before he could be sure, he drifted off himself.

\--------

Hazy blue twilight seeped into the bedroom when Shiro opened his eyes.  It took him a moment to realize he’d actually slept and hadn’t just closed his eyes for a moment.  He and Matt were resting in the same positions in which they’d fell asleep, and this gave Shiro an unexpected relief despite still feeling as though he’d been hit by a bus.

Shiro didn’t risk moving for Matt’s sake, but he never fell back asleep.  He allowed his mind to wander in and out of daydreams, good and bad, long enough for tendrils of sunlight to at last come crawling in through the window. He was brought back to attention by the sound of fabric rustling as Nyx leapt onto the bed with a faint mew, the slight disturbance causing Matt to shift.  Shiro gently chided the tom, trying to shoo him off, but Matt held a hand out, eyes still closed.

“No, he’s a good boy, huh?” Matt cooed, voice rasping with just-woken-up croaks.  Nyx happily butted into his palm, purring.  “Did you sleep okay?”

Shiro hesitated before realizing Matt was talking to him and not the cat.  He sat up in bed, resting against the headboard.  “Uh, yeah, I think.  A little.”  His own hoarseness caught him off-guard.

“Mmh, convincing,” Matt poked, twisting his hand to make the “OK” sign before sprawling in a grand stretch, then shifting closer to Shiro to rest on his shoulder, all the while refusing to open his eyes.

Shiro tried to keep his voice casual, but a worried pause preceded his asking, “How’s your face?”

“What face?”

“Matthew.”

“Takashi.”  Matt’s eyelids finally lifted just so he could squint playfully at Shiro who tried to conceal a smile by looking to his lap, where Nyx had come to share the love with blissful ignorance.

“Why are you so…” Shiro began, but sadness crept in, and his voice dropped to a whisper.  “Why are you still here?”

Sensing the shift in mood, Matt propped himself up on his elbow.  “What?”

Immediately, Shiro wished he could take the question back, but now that it was out there, his insecurities took the chance to present themselves.  “You shouldn’t be… here.  With me. You should be somewhere… safer. You deserve better than this—than me.”

“Shiro, what the fuck are you talking about?”

Matt waited a moment for Shiro to go on, but he fell silent, deliberately avoiding eye contact. Determined, Matt gently nudged Nyx out of the way so he could straddle Shiro’s lap and take his face in his hands, gently encouraging him to meet his gaze.  Too many worry lines creased Shiro’s face for his age.  Matt spoke deliberately, soft but stern: “I am here because I want to be.”

“But why?”

“Because!” Matt sighed.  “For the same reason I stayed in college.  The same reason I’m still at my job.  Just because there are some bad days, or bad nights, that doesn’t mean I don’t love it anymore.”

Shiro looked as if he wanted to refute, but he held his tongue, his tension easing bit by bit the longer he looked at Matt’s encouraging smile.  They pressed their foreheads together, Matt draping his arms around Shiro’s neck, Shiro wrapping his arms around Matt’s waist.  The embrace was less desperate than the night before, but somehow stronger.  Safer.

“I love you, too,” Shiro almost forgot to say out loud.

“Oh yeah?” Matt teased, kissing his forehead.  “Well, I loved you first.”

**Author's Note:**

> (originally posted on tumblr, finally made an AO3 account though!) This is actually my first bit of fanfiction ever! And of course I make it angsty. I'm not really sure where the idea came from for this, but I had a thought like, what if Shiro's past trauma resurfaces in a way that he accidentally hurts the people he cares about, and just aDklfadsa?? 
> 
> Anyway, this is a one-shot AU that I was exploring early into my Shatt hyperfixation lol. I was going to do a whole modern/mundane thing, but then I got a different idea for my Greaser AU that I'm putting more energy into than I originally thought.
> 
> My first fanfic, and this is also the first thing I've written seriously that wasn't like, a shopping list in I don't even know how long. It feels good to get back into it, but sorry if things are a bit crude/I seem rusty! I don't do much planning or editing for this stuff lol, but I appreciate feedback for future reference!
> 
> If you'd like, you can follow my art blog on tumblr @martieek :^)


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